E-commerce share of US retail sales
E-commerce as a % of total US retail sales, first quarter of each year.
About this data
The pandemic pulled e-commerce penetration from 11.8% in Q1 2020 to 13.6% in Q1 2021 in a single year. Growth since has been steadier rather than explosive, reaching 16.9% in Q1 2026. The pandemic step-change stuck; the pandemic growth rate did not.
E-commerce share of US retail sales
E-commerce as a % of total US retail sales, first quarter of each year.
Data table
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Aug 14, 2026Methodology
Figures are US Census Bureau quarterly retail e-commerce estimates, expressed as a percentage of total retail sales. Census e-commerce excludes travel, ticketing and financial services, so the number is lower than "online consumer spending" measures that include them. Quarters are compared like-for-like (Q1 to Q1) to avoid the large Q4 holiday seasonality in the unadjusted series. CAVEAT: Q1 2022 through Q1 2025 are published by Census but were not retrieved in this run, so the line has a gap rather than an interpolation. It will be filled on the next refresh. Re-verified 2026-08-10.
Sources
- US Census Bureau — Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales ↗ Public domain
- FRED — E-Commerce Retail Sales as a Percent of Total Sales ↗ Public domain (source data)
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.